Da Vinci exhibiton in Oradea, Romania
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Leonardo Da Vinci’s inventions resurrect in a small Transylvanian village.
Lajos Antal lives in Hegykozkovacsi (Cauaceu in Romanian), a small village in Bihor County, Romania. He is a carpenter and woodcarver craftsman and for over six years prepares the models of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions for Italian Leonardo da Vinci-museums.
Five years ago an Italian professor travelled across the country to find someone who can complete the polihistor’s plans and so he found Mr. Antal. He is the only one in the country who produces the machineries drafted by the Italian master. In the last six years he made 35 of da Vinci’s machines in more copies, filling three Italian museums.
The first series of these functioning models was exposed in the old mill of Oradea, the city near the carpenter’s village. The atmosphere of the exhibit hall was perfect to make the Renaissance master’s genius perceptible. Among the objects there was gear system, water powered saw mill, ball bearing, hand-powered water pump, different pulley systems, parachute and bike. Still the most complex work was the prototype of da Vinci’s famous tank. Even if these was only a model of the originally 12 meters long and 6 meters high machinery, the fact that Mr. Antal was the first to solve the question of the functioning of the tank, makes the model really interesting.
Another piece of the exhibition was the inventor’s rifle with twelve barrels. If it would have ever been made, the twelve-barreled rifle would have been very successful, for at the beginning of the age of firearms, to fire twelve guns required twelve people. To discharge da Vinci’s ‘multi-barreled’ rifle one man was enough and even if its transportation was difficult and it could have been used only at the beginning of the battle, it would’ve been a great advantage to own such a gun. A few years ago American scientists made such a rifle based on Leonardo’s plans and it really functioned even if its loading took some time.
The exhibition will not return to Oradea, the machines were taken to the three da Vinci museums in Italy with their center in Torino.
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Oradea Travel guide
Since its foundation in the 11th century, Oradea, the city of King Ladislaus (László) I. of Hungary, has always been a significant political and cultural point throughout the course of history. Its late 19th century name: “Paris on the River Pece” reflects beautifully how prosperous the city was by that time. Though the World Wars and the Communist Regime deteriorated the city image badly, in the past twenty years Oradea showed a fast paced development and a real upswing, so that now its old praising name starts to be heard again. The fine architecture the city center can take pride in conveys an atmosphere that... Read more »
Recent reviews for Oradea
My visits to Oradea - Oct 12, 2006, by MadSuh
There is not too much I can say about Romania. Lots of fun at night and lots of work during the day. I usually get to the office at around 11-12 and I stay until about midnight. I had my new iPod with me, so I can listen to some music when... Read more »
Brief presentation of Oradea - May 23, 2009, by bicska
An old and interesting city in the northwestern part of Romania, it played an important role throughout the country's history, as a major cultural, economical and military location. It is worth a visit because of the large number of... Read more »
Oradea for high budget travelers - Apr 30, 2009, by erato
Oradea – Best hotel Hotel Continental Dacia in Oradea has a total of 170 rooms, out of which 9 are apartments and its facilities include a bar, a public Internet terminal, a restaurant, a car park, an outdoor swimming pool and many... Read more »
Initial experiences in Oradea - Jul 27, 2007, by szbogi
Some pictures about me made by Zoli, just for fun. :) We are waiting to start our journey... We are really excited, this is a very big thing for us. I can't wait to see all those wonderful things I just read about before. We also decided to... Read more »
A few days later in Oradea - May 11, 2007, by MadSuh
It's been a few days since I last wrote about life here in Oradea. I had a busy week, partly due to the fact that my laptop had died on me and I was busy getting all programs running on the new machine. Anyhow, I am good now, so I am not... Read more »
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